Savings

The tradition for saving is an integral part of the credit union philosophy. The very idea of a credit union is meant to instill prudent saving habits in its members. At First Pioneers Federal Credit Union, we have a number of ways to help you save and achieve the maximum interest return on your money.

All accounts at First Pioneers Federal Credit Union are covered for loss up to $250,000 by the NCUA, a department of the US government.

Regular Shares

The regular share or savings account is the basic account for membership in the Credit Union. The first thing that you open when you join the Credit Union is this account. All other accounts are subaccounts. To be a member in good standing, you must have at least $5 on deposit in your regular share account.

The regular savings account should also be the basic account for a member’s financial health. Although we have checking accounts that pay interest, checking accounts usually pay only nominal interest. What we encourage our members to do is to direct a portion of their paycheck directly into their savings account on a regular basis. When the savings account starts to accumulate to a point where there are substantial sums, direct money into IRAs, certificates of deposit, (CDs) or even into the other financial instruments. Financial planners normally recommend that a person have at least 6-12 months’ worth of expenses in a readily accessable fund. That is known as a “rainy day ” fund to cover expenses in the case of illness or loss of employment.

The money you have deposited into your regular savings beyond the $5 minimum is always available to you. All you have to do to get access to it is to use your Cajun Cash(R) ATM card or access it through cuonline.com (new window/tab), our internet banking feature. Of course, you can always call one of our friendly tellers directly. We will do a reasonable numbers of transfers to other subaccounts.

All accounts at First Pioneers Federal Credit Union are covered for loss up to $250,000 by the NCUA, a US Government Agency.

L’Argent Money Market

“L’Argent” means money or silver in French. We use this designation to identify our money market account. This account is meant for those members who want the absolute safety of NCUA deposit insurance (up to $250,000) but want a bit more return.

This account is a great “in between” account in that the yield is higher than regular savings, but you don’t have to give up easy access to your funds. Our L’ Argent account requires that you start with at least $500. You can make 2 withdrawals per month from the account without any fee. Additional withdrawals beyond that are allowed, but there is a $10 fee.

Christmas Club

Our Christmas Club account is meant to store money away to provide for those inevitable Christmas bills. You put money aside throughout the year and you have extra money for the Holidays. Our Christmas Club account pays the same interest rate as our regular savings and we will deposit your Christmas Club funds in your regular savings account on the first business day of November. You can then contact us to mail you a check, take it out with your ATM card that is attached to your savings account or come by and pick it up from one of our friendly customer service tellers.

Lucky Lagniappe

What is Lucky Lagniappe Savings and how does it work?

It is an account that helps you make the most of your money: set aside just $20 per month and you are automatically entered to win $100, $1,000 or even $5,000.

Savings account we are offering exclusively to our members

$5 minimum opening deposit

Every $20 saved earns you an entry into a state-wide cash prize drawing

Similar to a club account – make a commitment to save for 12 months

Sign up now and start saving – the only requirement is that you are in good standing with the credit union.

Prizes:

State-wide prizes in 2018:

Monthly, 10 prizes for $100 each

Quarterly, 2 prizes for $1,000 each

Yearly, 1 grand prize for $5,000

Are there any fees?

There are no monthly service fees, this is a free account.

There are fees for any early withdrawals before the 12 months is up.

This account is meant to help you save – for a down payment, vacation, a nest egg, or emergencies.

What if I have an emergency and need to close my account?

You are able to take 2 withdrawals for a fee before closing your account (first withdrawal incurs $10 penalty; second withdrawal incurs $25 penalty). If you have an emergency and really need to close your account, you can do so without penalty but have to wait 90 days before you are eligible to open another account.

Can everyone in my family have an account?

Yes! Children/minors can have an account:

Jointly with a parent (minor is primary) OR

Individually (with a parent/guardian agreeing to terms and conditions)

When are the prize drawings?

Monthly drawings occur around the 15th of each month for the previous month’s entries, and we will notify you after the drawing if you are a winner.

Account Holder Requirements

At least one account holder must be 18 years of age or older, OR an individual minor may hold an account w/parental agreement to participate.

Must be a member in good standing to be determined by individual credit union.

Account must be open and active to win at the time the drawing is conducted. All earned entries at the time of account closure are forfeited.

Credit Union Employees/Board members/family/spouses may participate.

Business and trust accounts, or other non-consumer accounts, are not eligible.

Withdrawal Limits

Maximum of two withdrawals per twelve-month period.

A third withdrawal per twelve-month period requires account closure, without penalty.

An account may be closed at any time, without penalty, however all earned entries are subsequently forfeited.

If an account is closed, the consumer is ineligible to open another Lucky Lagniappe account at the same credit union for a period of 90 days and all entries earned up until that point are also forfeited upon closure.

An account may be closed at any time, without penalty, however all earned entries are subsequently forfeited.

Allow rollover to traditional CD savings product at the same credit union at the end of the 12- month anniversary savings date, without penalty.

After a consumer has reached their 12-month anniversary date from account opening, the consumer is permitted to make one penalty-free withdrawal from the account during the anniversary month. For example, if someone opens an account January 13, 2018, they have all of January 2019 to exercise their one time, penalty-free withdrawal. After 12 consecutive months of savings, the account will automatically roll-over to a new savings period. As a reward for saving, the balance will also re-set to zero at the beginning of the new program savings period. The consumer will earn entries in the first month of the new savings cycle based on the current new balance.

For example, if someone has a $100 balance in their PLS account at the end of their 12-month anniversary and they choose to continue to save funds in their PLS account, they will have already earned their 4 qualifying entries for the upcoming month’s drawing.

Max number of total entries in state-wide drawing:

Max number of total entries (per month) in state-wide drawing = 5 ($100)

Max number of total entries (per quarter) in state-wide drawing = 15 ($300)

Max number of total entries (per year) in state-wide drawing = 60 ($1200)

Limited to 1 consumer account per person (or joint membership account, with primary account holder receiving entry) per participating credit union.
An account holder is only eligible to win once per state-wide drawing pool; for example, an account holder, regardless of the number of entries, may only win one monthly state-wide drawing per month, and one quarterly state-wide drawing per quarter.